Transposing-keyboard.



110.758.760. PATENTBD MAY s, 1904.

J. 11..y KoHLMoos, JR.

TRANSPOSING KEYBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. a1, 1903.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG. 31, 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented May 3, 1904.

PATENT OEETCE.

JOHN H. KOHLMOOS, JR., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY H. WENDT, JR., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALI- FORNIA.

TRANSPOSlNG-KEYBOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 758,760, dated May 3,l 1904.

Application led August 31, 1903. Serial No. 171,329. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. KoHLMoos, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco,State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Transposing-Keyboards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to that class of transposing-keyboards for pianofortes and other musical instruments having similar keyboards, in which a duplex keyboard is mounted over the fixed keyboard and is adapted to be shifted with relation thereto to alter the tonality of a piece or passage in performance.

The object of my invention is to provide a transposing-keyboard independent of the fixed keyboard of the instrument, said independent or duplex board being adapted to be readily applied to and removed from the instrument and to be easily and accurately shifted.

To these ends my invention consists in the novel transposing-keyboard which I shall now describe and claim by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure l isa front elevation showing my transposing-keyboard applied to the piano. Fig. 2 is a plan of same. Fig. 3 is a section, enlarged, on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail showing the means by which the keys D and the filling-in strips E are held against individual lateral play. Fig. 5 is a top view of one of the filling-in strips E. Fig. 6 is an enlarged front elevation, broken and partly in section, to show the relative position of the transposing-keyboard to the regular keyboard of the piano. Fig. 7 is a general plan of the series of filling-in strips E of the main frame of the transposing-keyboard. Fig. 8 is a front view of the clamp connection by which the device is fitted to the piano. Fig. 9 is a plan of same. Fig. lO is a front view showing the locking engagement by which the shifting frame has its movement gaged. Fig. 1l is a plan of the same, showing the sockets as.

A is a main frame, composed of a front rail a, a back rail a, and end rails a2.

B is a secondary frame, shorter than the `main frame, and composed of a front rail a back rail 7)', and end rails Z22.

C is a guide-bar secured between the rear portions of the end rails a2 of frame A. Upon this guide bar are pivotally and slidably mounted the end rails b2 of secondary frame B, so that said frame B may be shifted in the direction of its length upon the frame A.

Pivotally and slidably mounted upon the guide-rail C, between the end rails b2 of frame B, are the keys D, both black and white,of the transposing-keyboard, so that said keys move or shift with frame B.

Secured to the back rail of frame A are the filling-in strips E, of a thickness about equal to the height of the black keys above the white keys of the regular keyboard of the pianoforte. These strips are secured in any lmanner suitable to permit them to be pressed downwardly. A good connection is that here shown namely, a resilient metallic link e, Fig. 4., secured at one end on top of the strip E and secured at its other end under the back rail a of frame A. These linksyield up and down, but are rigid enough laterally to hold the strips E true to their alinement. By like means, as seen in Fig. 4, the keys D are held true against lateral movement by resilient metallic links d, one end of each of which is secured under the back portions of said keys and the other end is secured to a bar d connecting them all.

In the central portion of the top of the front rail d of main frame A are made sockets a3, spaced to represent the intervals of an octave on the keyboard of the piano. With any one of these a stud b3 under the front rail of the secondary frame B is adapted to engage in order to define the extent of the shifting movement of said frame. A small handle b4 is mounted on the front rail of frame B for convenience in shifting said frame, and a similar small handle b5 is placed on the back rail of frame B for further convenience in manipulating said frame and to render it easy to shift the frame without cramping. Carriedv by one of the end rails of the main frame A is a clamping-plate F, adapted by means of a screwfwith a thuinb-wheelf" to be set out farther from or closer to the end rail of frame A.

The adjustment of the device to the pianoforte and its use in connection therewith will now be readily understood.

G- indicates a portion of the piano, the regular keyboard of which is (j, bounded at the ends by the walls g. My deviceis placed upon this keyboard y, and the clamping-plate F is set out far enough to bind against the terminal wall r/ of the piano-keyboard at one end, thereby binding' the other end of frame A against the other wall of piano-keyboard, so that the device is now held iirnnly in place. lt may also by this clamping device be raised or lowered to suit the height of the pianokeys above the end blocks. ln this position the iiller-strips E of the main frame A lie in the spaces between the black keys of the pianokeyboard g and just above the white keys thereof. Thus the practical level of both white and black keys of the piano-keyboard g is the sanne, thereby enabling the flat bottoni of each keyD of my device to operate by contact with the corresponding' underlying key, both white and black, of the piano-keyboard, the black keys of said board being operated by direct contact and the white keysv through the intervention of the fillerstrips E. Now to transpose or alter the tonality it is only necessary to lift the frame B about the guide-rod C as an axis far enough to raise the stud out of the socket tait is engaging and then to move said frame in the direction of its length to the proper position and to drop its stud into a new socket a, thereby fixing' it in its position. Suitable cushions of felt or other material will be placed in proper places to deaden the sound of con-tact and to prevent mai-ring of surfaces.

rlhe whole device is simple in construction and can be readily applied to and removed from the piano.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is4

l. A transposing-keyboard consisting' of a relatively stationary inain frame iittcd to the keyboard of the piano, depressible strips secured by their rear ends to the back of the main frame and extending forwardly upon the white keys of the piano, said strips filling in the spaces between the black keys ofthe piano up to the level of the tops of said keys, a relatively movable secondary frame carried by the niain frame and adapted to be shifted thereon in the direction of its length, and keys carried by said secondary frame adapted to contact with said filler-strips and with the black keys of the piano.

Q. A tiansposing-keyboard consisting of a relatively stationary main frame, an adjustable clamping-plate at the end thereof to detachably and adjustably lit said frame to the keyboard of the piano, depressible strips secured by their rear ends to the back of the main frame and extending forwardly upon the white keys of the piano, said strips lilling in the spaces between the black keys ofthe piano up to the level of the tops of said keys, a relatively movable secondary frame carried by the main frame and adapted to be shifted thereon in the direction of its length, and keys carried by said secondary frame adapted to Contact with said filler-strips and with the black keys of the piano.

ln witness whereof 1 have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN H. KOHLMOOS, Jia.

ritnessesz VALTER F. VANE, D. B. RIenARDs. 

